(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an exercise assisting apparatus provided with an exercising equipment having a movable portion for causing a user to exercise in a specified load condition, an exercise detecting means for detecting a movement of the movable portion of the exercising equipment, a pulse rate detecting means for detecting the pulse rate of the user, and an exercise monitoring means for monitoring an exercising state of the user based on the detection results of the exercise detecting means and the pulse rate detecting means, and also to an exercise assisting method.
(2) Description of the Related Art
There have been conventionally proposed such exercise assessing apparatuses that a monitor is provided on the front side of a stationary cycling machine, a character simulating an exercising state and a scenery as a background image are displayed on the monitor to make the user feel as if he were actually cycling, and a trainer character is further displayed to give suitable advices concerning the exercising state based on the detection results of a pedal rotation sensor and a heartbeat sensor (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications Nos. 7-250919, 11-137719 and 2000-5339).
A certain degree of improvement to prevent boredom resulting from the monotonousness of the conventional exercise by displaying the characters and the background image on the monitor can be recognized. However, only by enabling the user to see the background image which varies according to the exercise, the user will have more concern in the exercise to some extent, but it is hard to say that he comes to have an active will to exercise. Further, since the user receives suitable advices from the trainer character, a feeling of doing a passive exercise from start to finish cannot be denied.
In view of the above problems residing in the prior art, an object of the present invention is to provide exercise assisting method and apparatus which enable a user to finish an exercise menu in a more suitable condition while urging the user to have an active will to exercise.
An exercise assisting apparatus, as one of the forms according to the present invention, comprises: an exercise equipment having a movable portion for causing a user to exercise on a specified load condition, exercise detecting means for detecting a movement of the movable portion of the exercising equipment, pulse rate detecting means for detecting the pulse rate of the user, exercise monitoring means for monitoring an exercising state of the user in accordance with the detection results of the exercise detecting means and the pulse rate detecting means, a monitor provided on the exercising equipment for displaying a background image and a character corresponding to the user, image displaying means for causing the character to make a simulated motion related to the exercise within the background image on a screen of the monitor in accordance with the detection result of the exercise detecting means, game executing means for causing the character to make a specified motion belonging to the simulated exercise, and game evaluating means for giving a higher evaluation as the executed specified motion is made in a state closer to the one corresponding to a target pulse rate set beforehand.
With the above exercise assisting apparatus, if the user exercises using the movable portion of the exercising equipment, such a movement is detected by the exercise detecting means and the pulse rate of the user at that time is detected. The exercise monitoring means monitors the exercising state of the user in accordance with the detection results of the exercise detecting means and the pulse rate detecting means. For example, the exercise monitoring means calculates a consumed calorie, judges whether the user is exercising in a suitable, excessive or light load condition, and notifies the judgment result to the user if necessary. On the other hand, the character corresponding to the user is displayed together with the background image on the monitor screen, and the character is caused to make the simulated motion related to the exercise within the background image in accordance with the detection result of the exercise detecting means. At this time, the character on the monitor screen is caused to make the specified motion belonging to the simulated exercise by the game executing means. The game evaluating means gives a higher evaluation as the executed specified motion is made in a state closer to the one corresponding to a target pulse rate set beforehand. Thus, the user is led to such a psychological state or driven to have such a will as to aim to do a specified exercise at the target pulse rate set beforehand (preferably, aerobic exercise, etc.) in order to obtain a higher evaluation. Consequently, the exercise can be assisted while a preferable exercising state is maintained.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon a reading of the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.